I am in the process of painting my 2001 f4i right now. I have it sanded down and one coat of primer on it, but i have a few questions....do i only need one coat of primer? and a friend of mine ( the guy helping me do all this) is telling me im going to have to wait until summer when its like 90 degrees outside to actually paint it. I REALLY REALLY dont want to wait that long and i dont want to pay a butt load to have someone do it. Do i need to wait until its that hot outside? what is a good temp. to paint in? and how many coats of color and clear coat do i need? i want a good look in the end so im willing to do what ever it takes for me to do the best i can myself. is there a way i can keep the dust out of the paint while im painting? i can already see the dust in the primer. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanxs

 

I'm just an amateur painter myself so take this advice accordingly The goal of the primer is to stick to the material you're spraying and provide a smooth base for your topcoat. If you have a really good smooth coat of primer then there's no reason to apply another coat. I spray 1 coat of primer, let it flash then respray and that's usually enough.

As for what temperature to spray at -- the hotter the better. The paint will flash faster (less dust and crap to sand off later) and will flow oh so much easier. The paint can should have the minimum temp on it. Peeps I talk to won't paint unless it's at least 70F. And if the temp is in the mid 70's they make sure the can is inside where it can completely warm up before attempting to paint.

Make sure to post up some pics. I'm currently sanded and waiting to prime -- stoopid weather won't cooperate. At this rate I suspect when it's finally warm enough the pollen will play hell with me so I'm not in a hurry

 

Personally I would sand the coat of primer with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper then clean it off and add another coat to fill the scratches. Then add 2-3 light coats of paint followed by 3-4 coats of clear coat then wet sand with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper, you could skip the 1000 grit if its really smooth. After that use rubbing compound by turtle wax, scratch doctor by nu finish then wax. Allow at least 5 FIVE days for the clear coat to completely harden before wet sanding!!! Why wet sand the clear coat? well it will get rid of any orange peel effect.
http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spr...directions.htm

 

Ill post up some pics of my progress so far tonight when i get home from work......so i think to be safe ill go ahead and sand one more time and apply more primer....then its suppose to be mid to high 70's here (east TN) this weekend so maybe ill do it then. But the thing im confused on is......am i suppose to paint and clear coat and then sand again? do i clear coat again after the sanding?

 

No...You paint how ever many layers you want, 3-4 coats is best. Then clear coat at least 3 coats, I did 4. Then you wet sand the clear coat lightly with 1000 grit sand paper then 1500 grit and finish with 2000 grit. After your sanding is complete you will NEED to use a rubbing compound to get the 2000 grit sand paper scratches out of the clear coat. I used turtle wax rubbing compound then I used scratch doctor by nu finish to get even more of the scratches out and finish it off with wax, but like I said ensure you wait about 5 days for the clear coat to completely harden before wet sanding.
If you do all this your bike will shin better than new!
Also you might get away with just using the scratch doctor but its a little more pricey so spend the extra $4 on rubbing compound so you wont have to use as much scratch doctor!